An event on account of the MFF’s 5th anniversary disrupted

The Movement For Freedom (MFF) marks the 5th anniversary of its founding on May 20. A special meeting should have been held on this occasion at one of the recreation bases near Minsk on the coming weekend. However, the recreation base’s administration has unilaterally terminated the contract three days before the event.

The meeting should have been attended by dozens of people – mostly, the MFF activists. An informal meeting of like-minded persons and friends dedicated to the first anniversary was meant to take place.

“The enlarged meeting of the Movement’s Council during which our performance over these five years was meant to be analysed was, perhaps, the only political part of the program,” tells MFF Deputy Chairman Yuras Hubarevich.

Acсording to him, the MFF had an agreement with the recreation base confirmed by the letter of guarantee. “But, all of a sudden, we were informed that children would come to the base for some event on the weekend. We only heard an indistinct muttering to our question of whether it was possible to carry over our event to a later date,” says Hubarevich.

According to him, it isn’t known whether there was an order from the authorities to disrupt the event or whether the recreation base’s administration hedged itself not to have problems with the authorities: “In any case, we have another proof of how absurd people’s behaviour becomes in a country dominated by the atmosphere of fear.”

Hubarevich emphasises that the MFF has a state registration, but despite its legal status, it cannot hold an internal event in a public institution.

“We are planning to hold a congress this autumn. Given the situation with the celebration of the 5th anniversary of our organisation, it’s impossible to hope that we will be able to hold the congress without any problems, although this is guaranteed by the law on the freedom of assembly and public organisations,” notes Hubarevich.

For your reference:

The Movement For Freedom (MFF) appeared on the wave of the civil protests after the presidential election of 2006. It was headed by the presidential candidate at that election Alaksandr Milinkevich. The MFF was trying to obtain legal status since the spring 2007. The founding conferences were held four times with subsequent filing of all the documents required for registration to the Ministry of Justice. The first founding conference was held on May 20, 2007 which is considered by the MFF to be the foundation date.

The registration certificate was obtained at the fourth attempt on December 17, 2008. The Movement For Freedom is a human rights advocacy and education non-governmental organisation. The MFF’s strategic objectives are free elections in Belarus, the defence of independence, bringing the standard of living in Belarus to European standards, and the European integration of our country.